From Russia With Love

The next morning she was woken by yellow sunlight streaming through her second story window onto her face. She sighed, and rolled over, until the conversation with her parents the night before hit her again.

“I don’t want you to pretend anything, Dominika, I want you to consent to a courtship with Private Way, and assuming all goes well, your Mother and I want you to marry him. By the end of the year”

“What?! Marry Gerard?! Are you crazy? Not until hell freezes over!”

It was like a nightmare that she hadn’t woken up from yet, but deep down the feeling of dread and realization was already churning.

She did care for Gerard, she supposed if it had to be anyone, he wasn’t the worst choice, but why did she have to do this in the first place? She had plans, she wanted to go to Moscow when she turned eighteen to attend a prestigious ballet company and hopefully one day preform on stage in a starring role. She wanted to meet someone the normal way, by her own choice and marry the person she chose rather than have it decided for her.

She sighed to herself deeply, closing her eyes and basking her face in the sun, her hair spread out across the white sheets underneath. If this was a peaceful time, if there was no war, if there was no threat of invasion, maybe she would have had the chance to fulfill those dreams. There would be no Moscow and no ballet company if they were invaded. The first thing the enemy would do was to go after the Royal family, the very axis that the whole of Russia stood on. From there, society would dissolve into anarchy and they could gain control. She had heard all of these things from her history tutor time and time again over the years.

Suddenly she felt the weight of the country on her shoulders. Maybe if she married Gerard, it wouldn’t change anything directly, but she knew it would indeed help forge the feelings of kinship between America and Russia. It would be front page news in both countries, the Vice President’s son and the Russian princess.

Her face flushed pink as another thought crept into her mind. If they were to marry, they’d live together, they’d kiss, and sleep in the same bed, and she knew exactly what else marriage involved thanks to mortifying conversations with her Mother and sister. She rolled over and covered her head with her pillow, trying to push those thoughts out of her mind. She was painfully shy, even with Gerard who she’d known most of her life, and the thought of doing anything like that at the moment was almost scary. She’d never thought about him in that way before, or anyone for that matter, royal life at the estate meant her contact with men, especially those her own age was extremely limited.

She decided she would get ready and go and see Gerard herself, she wanted to hear what he thought about this situation. She sighed internally, imagining all the fun he could have torturing her with this, he loved making her blush.

Before anyone else was awake, she left the house and started walking up their winding driveway to Krasivaya. The early morning wind from the woods brushed her hair back from her face and she pulled her little white jacket closer around her as she approached the looming red brick house. Krasivaya was almost as nice her own house, just a little smaller and surrounded by rows and rows of manicured hedges and gardens. She rung the bell and tapped her fingers against the bricks as she waited. Gerard answered bare-chested and sleepy eyed.

“Oh” she cried, covering her eyes with one hand and turning away “sorry, I didn’t realize you were in bed, I shouldn’t have come by so early, I’ll come back later” she started to turn towards the porch stairs.

“Don’t be silly, come in and sit down, I’ll put a shirt on”

She shielded one side of her face with her hand to block the view as she walked past him into the house. He chuckled as he disappeared into another a room for a moment and returned wearing a black t-shirt.

“You’ve seen me without a shirt on before, Domi, what’s the big deal?”

“Not since you were like, fifteen!” she defended “hey, where is everyone? Is it just you here?”

“My folks had to fly back to the homeland for a few days to attend a state funeral or something, I’m holding down the fort”

Gerard’s brother was back in America too completing his military training so the normally busy house was eerily quiet. Now he was more awake, she noticed there was something about his eyes today, something different.

“Are you happy or something?” she asked suspiciously.

“What kind of question is that?” he replied “Am I supposed to be depressed about something?”

He was acting like he had no idea why she was over there. She narrowed her eyes at him and he smirked back. Of course, she thought to herself, life changing situation and he’s laughing.

“Well I assume someone informed you that we’re supposed to be…married by the end of the year, naturally I was the last one to know” she said.

His face went serious for a moment and it took her by surprise.

“I know, Domi”

“Well? Aren’t you angry that no one is giving us a choice here? Are you happy having your future decided for you?”

“I care about you, Dominika, and I care about the country”

“Wh-?”

“Lemme finish. I care about you, and I care about both our countries, but I will not marry you against your will. But I want you to give me a chance to make you happy before you decide what you want”

She sat in stunned silence for a moment, twisting the ends of her hair in her lap as she contemplated his words.

“What do you think?” he said softly.

“Aren’t I too young for you?”

“That’s your first question? I’ve known you your whole life Dominika, age is just a number, and besides it’s only a few years” he shrugged.

“If that’s really how you feel, why do you always tease me?” she accused. He grinned happily.

“All part of the game kid, besides, you’re too much fun to stir up”

She felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. Too many questions swirled around in her head, did this mean he liked liked her? Or just that he wanted to try to for the sake of the country. She realized she’d been quiet for a long time when he got up and sat down next to her.

He stroked the back of the hand in her lap with his pinky finger once gently.

“You’re the girl I want, let me make you happy”

She got up suddenly and backed away from the couch, bumping into a vase behind her on the way. She grabbed it just before it crashed to the ground and set it up right again.

“I have a lot to think about Gerard, I have to go now, I’m not saying no, I just…need to think”

“You want me to walk you back?”

“Its okay, I’ll see you later”

She shut the door behind her on the way out and turned to look at the house one more time, shaking her head in disbelief before making her way back up the drive.

Notes

And it begins!